Details

White Rake is situated on the northern edge of Longstone Moor on the limestone
plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes both a Neolithic long barrow and
a Bronze Age bowl barrow within a single constraint area which lies c.30m
north of the rake. The bowl barrow is superimposed on the eastern end of the
long barrow and comprises a roughly circular mound with a diameter of c.18m
and a height of c.1m. The long barrow, which is orientated east to west,
extends for 24m west of the bowl barrow so that the overall length of the
monument is 42m. The exposed section of the long barrow ranges from c.12m
wide at the east end to c.9m at the west end, and its height ranges from
c.0.6m to 0.4m. There has been no recorded excavation of the monument which
has been identified by its form and overall similarity to others of this kind.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking
ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic
periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early
farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments
surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows
appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the
human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide
evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and,
consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites
for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 long
barrows are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic
structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their
considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are
considered to be nationally important.

White Rake long barrow is an extremely rare survival of an undisturbed long
barrow in which intact archaeological remains will survive. The later bowl
barrow is also very well preserved and is an integral part of the monument.
Together these barrows demonstrate the continued importance of the Neolithic
burial focus and also changing burial practices during these two periods.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Hart, C R, Searches for the E Neolithic: A Study Of Peakland Long Cairns, (1986)
Barnatt, J, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in A Long Barrow on Longstone Moor, Derbyshire, , Vol. 100, (1980), 17

Source: Historic England